January 1, 2014

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Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio stands next to the Rose Bowl Trophy during a news conference on Monday. / Chris Carlson/Associated Press

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LOS ANGELES — As a guy with Big Ten roots who got to know Mark Dantonio when he was at Ohio State, Kirk Herbstreit is familiar with what Michigan State has become under Dantonio.

Today, Herbstreit said, is a chance for a lot of other people to find out.

“What could this game do for them? Because I still don’t think the nation respects Michigan State,” Herbstreit, who will call today’s Rose Bowl with Brent Musburger for ESPN, said on a teleconference. “Maybe you and me and people that have followed them, we understand what they’ve accomplished, but I guarantee if you ask a Pac-12 or SEC fan, ‘Hey, what do you think of Michigan State?’ there’s not going to be a lot of, ‘Oh, wow, Michigan State, what a great team.’

“So when you get on a big stage like this, this is a huge opportunity to take the program to that next level, to be able to get people to say, ‘Oh, yeah, Michigan State, they’re definitely a team to be taken seriously.’ Stanford’s a great example of that. I don’t think Stanford was taken very seriously until they started to win some of these more high-profile games.”

No. 4 MSU (12-1) and No. 5 Stanford (11-2) play at 5 p.m. today in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. (ESPN). The former Ohio State quarterback added that “it’s one thing to be there, but for people to remember you, you’ve got to win the game.”

■ REPORT: TEXAS INTERESTED IN DANTONIO: Texas would like to interview Dantonio for its vacant head coaching job, according to a report by popular Texas site Orangebloods.com.

Dantonio was not available for comment Tuesday, though he did speak briefly at a pep rally in downtown Los Angeles involving an estimated 27,000 MSU fans. Dantonio looked out on the crowd and said: “Wow. I guess the Rose Bowl is a destination, not a stop.”

That was his reference to a recent news conference during which he was asked about possible Texas interest. He said the talk was “flattering” but that MSU in his opinion is a coaching “destination and not a stop.”

Dantonio later said in an interview with the Free Press about a program such as Texas coming after him: “I guess you’d consider. But it’d be very difficult to do.”

Dantonio makes $1.96 million a year, ninth in the Big Ten, but he and athletic director Mark Hollis have discussed the specifics of raises for him and his staff.

■ ON THE GROUNDS: MSU tweeted several pictures of Dantonio showing his team around the outside and inside of the Rose Bowl on Tuesday, and defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi tweeted a picture of the field with “Stanford” and “Michigan State” painted in the end zones.

The Spartans took a team picture in their uniforms — green jerseys and green pants, just as in wins over Michigan and Ohio State — and took part in a luncheon outside the stadium along with the Stanford team and Rose Parade grand marshal Vin Scully.

Neither team is allowed on the field before the game, though.

■ READY TO GO: Dantonio and his team have had enough talk and would like to get to the hitting.

“It gets to that point where you’re done talking and you’re just ready to play, and I think we’re at that point as a football team,” Dantonio said. “How many more times can you practice the power which they run? How many more times can we do what we do against their defense?”